On baseball.

Jeter showing little class

April 06, 2003|By Phil Rogers.

Derek Jeter will forever be remembered for one hustling, instinctive play. So, now, will the unfortunate Ken Huckaby.

While Jeter is celebrated for his time-capsule moment--an infield dash and quarterback-option feed to catcher Jorge Posada in the 2001 playoffs, denying Oakland a first-round upset--Huckaby is unfairly vilified by some for his.

It's shameful that Jeter, who knows better, has left the unsung Toronto catcher twisting in the wind after their Opening Day collision, which left the New York Yankees shortstop with a dislocated left shoulder.

Huckaby made an incredibly smart play to dash from home plate to the unoccupied third base when he saw Jeter trying to beat Toronto's shift by going from first to third on Jason Giambi's grounder to pitcher Roy Halladay. Huckaby made a nice running grab, especially with a catcher's mitt, of a throw from first baseman Carlos Delgado and dove into the base to tag Jeter.

Unfortunately for Jeter, he was diving headfirst into the bag. When Huckaby's knee plowed into Jeter's shoulder, something had to give.

There was no overzealousness or malicious intent on Huckaby's part. It was, in the well-chosen words of Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, a case of the perfect storm.

"I know Derek Jeter's one of the best guys, one of the nicest guys in Major League Baseball," said Huckaby, 32. "I don't want to hurt him at all."

Huckaby and Jeter played against each other in a minor-league all-star game in 1995 but have had markedly different experiences since then. But this was hardly a case of a small-timer taking a cheap shot at an icon.

"He was hustling; I was hustling," Huckaby said. "There were a bunch of bad factors all rolling together at once. ... I have to do the little things like that to maintain my position up here."

Huckaby could not have been more contrite about the incident. He feels remorse even though he did nothing wrong. Yet Jeter declined to return the graciousness.

Jeter did not call the play dirty, but neither did he rebut those who did, including Yankees teammate Enrique Wilson. When Jeter was initially asked if Huckaby was out of line, he answered, "You'll have to ask him."

Jeter was just as unforthcoming a day later. Asked if he was angry about the play, he said, "I'm just angry that I have to miss a long time."

Once Huckaby finally tracked down Jeter in the visiting clubhouse Wednesday at the SkyDome, two days after the incident, there was no small talk. "He said he didn't mean to hurt me," Jeter recounted to reporters. "He hoped that I was OK. That was it. It was about two seconds."

What did Jeter say? "He talked," answered Jeter.

Yankees manager Joe Torre, once a catcher himself, said Huckaby did nothing wrong.

"He just looked like the catcher, like he was running after a school bus," said Torre, adding there was nothing wrong with him using his body instead of trying a swipe tag. "Catchers do that. They block every base."

Jeter, who has never played fewer than 148 games in a season, was relieved to learn he won't need surgery, but he will be out at least a month. Rookie Erick Almonte, known as a better hitter than fielder, gets first crack to replace him. The Yankees apparently will pursue a trade--Barry Larkin, Jose Vizcaino and Orlando Cabrera are among the possibilities--only if Jeter's situation gets worse.

In the meantime, security becomes a concern when Huckaby and the Blue Jays visit Yankee Stadium from April 14-17.

"I'll just have to deal with it when it comes up," Huckaby said.

Jeter's silence sends the wrong message.

One that got away: It probably hasn't been said often enough what a mistake the Cubs made in the spring of 2001, trading Double-A third baseman Eric Hinske to Oakland in exchange for the Athletics not reclaiming Rule 5 pickup Scott Chiasson.

Given their standing as a bad team going nowhere, the Cubs could have hid Chiasson as their 11th or 12th pitcher if they wanted to keep him. Now, as they continue to answer the eternal third-base question, they must watch what figures to be a long run for Hinske at third base in Toronto.

As a reward for his earning Rookie of the Year Award in the American League, the Blue Jays signed Hinske to a five-year contract. Manager Carlos Tosca has moved him up to the No. 2 spot in the order, in front of Vernon Wells, Delgado and Josh Phelps.

Hinske is hoping to increase his homers from 24 last year while cutting down his 138 strikeouts.

"Eventually he's either going to be a [No. 3 or No. 5 hitter], with his plate discipline and the power that he has," Tosca said.

Rough start: Catcher Ivan Rodriguez was wounded by manager Jeff Torborg's decision to lift him in the middle of Florida's opener against Philadelphia. He was steamed when 22-year-old Josh Beckett blamed his shaky performance on the 10-time Gold Glover calling too many off-speed pitches.